Fullmetal Alchemist Part I - The Trilogy Begins
by Nixie the Bloody Pixie
Summary: Follow Edward and Alphonse Elric as they travel Amestris thin in search of the Philosopher's Stone. Feel the thrill of torturing Envy with five insane clones, grin as Greed is subjugated to become babysitter for a temperamental brat and laugh as Edward and Alphonse tries to decode the foreign language that women possess. Manga-based!
1. An Introduction and a Fake Priest

**Silly, silly reader! If I had owned FMA there would have been lolcatz involved… loads and loads of lolcatz…**

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Chapter 1: An Introduction and a Fake Priest

* * *

A loud groan was heard as two lonesome figures sat in a compartment, both of them shifting eerily on the uncomfortable wooden seats. One of them, a suit of armor, looked out of the window as his companion, a young man with a blonde braid and clad in red and black, crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I swear someday I'll hunt down those who designed these seats and I will then proceed to shove the wood down their damn throats!"

"Don't be like that, Brother. You'll get in trouble if you actually followed through with those threats."

"Bite me, Al!"

"No thanks, Ed. You really need to work on some of your comebacks though; they've been getting pretty lame as of late..."

Edward glared up at his brother, not even once evading the calm look Alphonse shot right back at him, and a scowl crept its way up on his face.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"…Brother, be honest with yourself here, how many times have you said 'Bite me!' in the last month?"

"…"

"See where I'm getting at? You need to work on some new catchphrases." Alphonse said calmly, swiftly pulling out a small piece of paper from the pouch strapped to his right leg. "Here, try some of these."

"You wrote catchphrases down? What the Hell, Al!" Edward growled and glared at the small piece of paper like it's something particularly nasty.

"No, Brother, I didn't do it! Nana did!"

…

…

…

"WHAT?!"

"Nana and I spoke about it before we took the first train to Liore. She said that I should talk to you about it."

Edward stared down at the paper before shoving it up in Alphonse's helmet.

"Al, my dearest and only brother, does _this_," Edward gestured to a particular line on the paper, "look like something you want to say in front of someone, namely the Colonel?"

"'I'm not short… I'm funsized!'? I don't see what's wrong with it, Ed."

"I can't be known across Amestris as Edward Elric the 'Funsized' Alchemist! Al, did you give Nana any sugar before she wrote this?"

"No, but I _do_ know that she sneaked a few muffins out of the kitchens in Central Command..."

"You know how she gets when sugar is involved, Al!" Edward raged, his left eye twitching violently as he played several scenarios inside his head that all involved Mustang frying his ass all the way to Resembool and back again to Eastern Command.

"Oh, that's just great! The Colonel's gonna ride my ass for that when I get back, I just know it!" Edward moaned, hiding his face in his hands as he ignored his brother's attempts to cheer him up.

"Ed, she was just trying to help yo—"

"Don't say it, Al. Not. A. Damn. Word."

"Fine, be that way. It's not like I care that we're almost at Liore anyway." Alphonse snorted before pulling out a book from his small pouch, reading silently while pointedly ignoring his fuming brother as the town of Liore drew closer and closer every second.

"I can't believe she wrote that down! She knows that I hate people referring to my height so why the Hell did she even write stuff like that?!"

"Not listening, Ed."

"I mean, I could understand it if she just wrote it for fun with a little smiley or something underneath it to signal that she's just joking but nooooo this just has to be about my height because I am Edward Elric, the _FUNSIZED ALCHEMIST_!"

"Brother, you're starting to scare the other passengers…"

"…hy the Hell can't she just be a normal kid for once in her life and bake a cake or something for us so we wouldn't have to eat the horrible food on this train?"

"Brother, she did that the time we went to Youswell!"

"Yeah but we ended up giving that one to that family with the crying children just to shut them up!"

"You were the one who gave the cake to them out of your own good will, Ed!"

"Shut up Al, and back me up for once!"

"Oh, so going on a train heading for Liore with you is not backing you up? Wow, Ed, thanks a lot!"

"Excuse me, you two."

Both brothers turned around to face whoever had spoken to them and Edward paled as he saw the conductor glare down at them.

"Would you two please refrain from raising your voices further? If you continue I will have to send you off on the next stop."

"Of course, sir. Right away." Edward and Alphonse muttered as they lowered their heads in apology, and the conductor snorted in appreciation before returning to his seat up front.

"Well done, Ed."

"Oh shut it, Al. You were at it too!" Edward hissed at his brother before crossing his arms in pure stubbornness. He glared out of the dusty window, spotting a few towers in the distance.

"So… Liore, here we come." Edward chuckled evilly as an eerie gleam brightens up his eyes. Alphonse just sighed in despair and facepalmed.

"Why do I have the feeling that we're going to be offending dozens of people…?" Alphonse muttered to himself, already dreading the quite possible, _disastrous_, outcome of the situation.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Roy Mustang was promptly bored as he read through the reports from last night's fight against Isaac McDougal, his eyes straying every few seconds to a girl with honey-colored hair currently napping on his couch.

"Sir, those reports won't file themselves. You better get to work on them now or you won't be finished until tomorrow noon at earliest." a feminine voice sounded as the door to his office opened and in strolled 1. Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye.

"Come on, Hawkeye! Just five minutes."

"Sir, you know as well as I do that those five minutes will become fifty if you start having a break now. Get to work."

Roy shot her a sullen look before staring longingly at the couch the young girl was occupying.

"Also, stop looking at Nana that way, Colonel. People might get the wrong idea."

Roy stiffened in shock and stared at Hawkeye, his jaw slack from the shock, but the blonde woman just placed the stack of papers onto her superior's desk and then sat down at her own desk, calmly beginning to polish her gun.

"…you can be really creepy sometimes, Hawkeye, you know that right?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Sir. Now, please get those papers signed."

"…alright then…"

Roy finally picked up a pen and started filling out the papers, his eyes still straying to his couch every few seconds but at least Hawkeye didn't hound him about it. Silence ensued within the office, only broken by Nana's soft breathing and the clinking sounds from Riza's gun.

"Hawkeye?"

"Mm?"

"Please remind me why we got stuck as babysitters for Fullmetal's sister when they easily could have taken her with them to Liore."

Riza slowly put down her gun and looked at the soundly sleeping Nana. "Alphonse told me before they left HQ that Edward didn't want her to get involved in this "military business" as he put it."

Roy snorted, "Kinda late for that idea to find its way inside his head, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed I would, Sir. But still, if it had been you who was in Edward's shoes would you have allowed your sister to tag along on a mission that possibly could turn out to be more dangerous than predicted."

"Touché…" Roy said and rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers before turning his attention back to the paperwork, "They coddle her too much sometimes if you ask me, Lieutenant."

Hawkeye smiled softly and began with practiced movements piecing together the gun as she looked out of the window, watching the clouds calmly when the sound of a phone ringing broke the soothing silence. Muttering something inappropriate Roy picked up the phone and took a deep breath before he started talking.

"Yes, this is Colonel Roy Mustang speaking. Yes, I'm the superior of Fullmetal? No… No of course not Sir! Y-yes, I'll arrange for it to happen immediately."

Roy scribbled down a few notes before he put down the phone and then proceeded to bury his face in both hands.

Worried, Hawkeye put down her gun, "What's the matter, Sir?"

"Elric's the matter, Lieutenant… I have a feeling that I am going to need aspirin, and loads of it… also booze." Roy groaned just as a loud yawn broke the silence in the office. Both Riza and Roy looked over at the couch where Nana finally had woken up from her nap, currently busy with rubbing her eyes.

"Damn, that was a good nap I got there! Hey, Colonel what's… up… with your… face…?" Nana's voice slowly came to a halt as she took in the scene before her with both eyebrows nearing her hairline.

"Lemme guess… Edward's in trouble?"

"…Maybe…" Roy said carefully, his eyes suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting, as Hawkeye reached out for the notes Roy had written and handed them over to Nana whose face immediately turned into a mixture of anger and surprise.

She blinked a few times, reading the notes _just one more time_ to make sure that she hasn't missed something, and then she turned her head to look at Hawkeye.

"Miss Riza? I'm going to need a wrench."

* * *

xXx

* * *

"Brother, I don't think shouting at Father Cornello like that and then knocking out his chimera was a very good idea!" Alphonse cried out as another bullet ricocheted off his sturdy steel armor, his arms tightening slightly around Rosé.

"Oh shut up, Al! The guy was a phony anyways!" Edward screamed as he ducked under a stray bullet and forced his legs to go even faster than before.

"Put me down!" Rosé screamed as the bullets continued to fly around and about, miraculously not getting anywhere near Rosé at all, but both Elric Brothers just kept on running, never slowing down the slightest.

"If you wanna die then that's just fine by me, Rosé! But I wanna live!" Edward howled before he quickly slammed open a huge door.

"Wait Edward, that's—" Rosé began, reaching out towards him halfway only to squeak when Alphonse stepped back enough for her to avoid touching his brother.

"I'll prepare the stuff in here, Al. You just get those other things ready!" Edward grinned before he slammed the door shut and Alphonse headed off, still with Rosé in his arms.

"_They went that way_!"

"_Somebody get Father Cornello_!"

"_Those damn pests! They've even persuaded Rosé to join their heathen cause_!"

Rosé was shaking like aspen-leaves as they continued running down the many hallways.

"Why did you take me with you? You could have just left me there with the others, then I wouldn't be running from my own townsmen."

"You know Rosé... you remind me a lot of our sister." Alphonse said as they made a sharp turn to the left and headed towards the tower in the church.

"Your… sister? You didn't mention her earlier, did you?"

"…No. It's not often that people know the slightest about her but when you threw a hissy fit before — hey, don't look at me like that! You totally did! — it reminded me of when we had to leave for Liore, that's all."

Rosé looked up at Alphonse with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape, but she didn't say anything at the moment.

"Why didn't you want her to come with you to Liore? Is it too dangerous for a girl how old?"

"She's turning 13 this summer, and yes that's exactly why, Rosé. It's too dangerous for Nana to run around Amestris with us. She could get killed." Alphonse said, suddenly coming to a halt. As Rosé looked around she inwardly gasped as she saw the entire city of Liore underneath her. Alphonse had carried her all the way up to the clock tower and she hadn't even noticed it because of the conversation they had on the way up here.

"Alphonse, why did you take me up here?"

"Because you have to hear the truth behind Father Cornello, Rosé. You can't keep living in this empty dream of yours."

Alphonse pulled out a small piece of chalk from his little leg pouch and quickly sketched up a circle with trained movements.

"The… truth?"

"Yes, Rosé, the truth." Alphonse said as he finished the last few details on the circle. Abruptly he stood up and walked over to the tower.

"Wh-what are you doing, Alphonse?" Rosé asked in a halfway horrified voice as she followed the suit of armor with her eyes. She didn't do anything as he slowly got the large bell from the tower down on the ground only for him to drag it over to the transmutation circle he'd just scribbled on the building.

"Letting you see what your "holy" father really is…" Alphonse said as he clapped his hands and placed them on the large bell.

A bright blue light flickered and lit up the balcony, making Rosé wince slightly and step back when her eyes started hurting from the brightness. She slowly looked over at the place where the bell before had been standing, only to gasp as she stared at the giant speaker in its place.

"Al-Alphonse, what in the world is that?!"

"Shh, Rosé! Ed's almost ready!"

That was when Alphonse connected the last wires and something sounded inside the speaker.

"_You damn brat!_" Cornello's voice said, "_You'd better be prepared!_"

"_Old man, let's have a heart-to-heart talk. I just want to know the secret behind that stone. Or, should I perhaps call for the army to mobilize? To inspect the stone, that is?_"

"That's Edward… but why is he with Father Cornello?" Rosé whispered confused.

"This is all part of Brother's plan, Rosé. He didn't tell me everything but he told me enough." Alphonse answered, his voice rather smug as he listened to his brother talking to the fraud Priest.

"_Fine_." Cornello said after the sound of a door closing was heard.

"_What do you plan to do with the Philosopher's Stone? You don't need that pitiful Order if you have the stone, do you?_" Edward's voice asked through the speakers and Rosé felt her heart tighten ever so slightly. Father Cornello was a miracle worker, a Man of God, he'd proven it too many times for it not to be lies.

"_The Order will produce followers that will joyfully give up their lives for me_." Cornello's voice said, "_They would be an undefeatable army that does not fear even death. Just watch_."

Rosé fell to her knees, staring at the speaker as if it had personally wronged her as Cornello's voice continues on.

"_I'm going to be stripping this country away in a few years. By using my Philosopher's Stone and my stupid followers! I guess I could share some of the leftovers with you_."

Cornello's rough laughter echoed in the speaker and soon enough Edward's merry laughter joined him. Rosé stared at the speaker, pale as a sheet and her entire body shaking as the reality of Cornello's words finally sinks in.

"No… it can't be…"

"I'm sorry, Rosé…" Alphonse said and bowed his head in apology.

"_What's so funny?_" Cornello asked as Edward continued to laugh.

"_This is why I called you third-rate_." Edward's voice said and the sound of something metallic echoes through the loud speakers followed by a long silence.

"_Y-you didn't!_" Cornello shouted.

"There's no such thing as miracles, Rosé. They were all thanks to the power of the Philosopher's Stone." Alphonse said, holding up the giant speaker out towards Liore on his huge shoulder.

"_Y-you! When did you flip on that damn switch? WHEN?!_" Cornello screamed in the speaker as his voice is spread throughout the city of Liore, being broadcasted in every home.

"_From the beginning. It's all been leaked, now._"

"_What have you done, you brat?!_"

The sound of the two males yelling at each other and the distinct noise of explosions soon follows in the speakers, only for a huge crash to sound from inside Leto's Church.

Alphonse and Rosé looked down simultaneously to see huge clouds of dust shoot out through the doorway.

"I have to go down there! Brother might be in trouble!" Alphonse said and put a hand on Rosé's shoulder, attempting to comfort her, "You should probably stay up here for a little while until things settle down, Rosé. Again, I'm sorry."

With those words Alphonse hurried down from the bell tower, jumping over fallen chunks of debris and stone that litters the hallway.

"I sure hope Brother hasn't made a huge mess of this yet…" Alphonse mused, jumping over a particular large piece of debris before he promptly sweatdropped, "Oh who am I kidding, Ed's probably decimated the entire Church by now…"

Alphonse continued running as fast as he could and soon enough found his way down to the front of the Church where he could hear the angry shouts from what appeared to be a _very_ angry mob outside.

"Brother! What's going on here?"

"Oh, hi Al. Cornello's before-so-loyal followers decided to get some payback, that's what happened." Edward grinned and quickly locked his eyes on the stuttering Cornello who didn't know how to fend for himself now that his Stone no longer was within his reach.

"What happened to the Stone, Ed?"

Edward sighed heavily, "It… it was a fake, Al. Sorry…"

"Oh…"

"Ten bucks on that he won't make it out alive." Edward whispered to Alphonse all of a sudden as they watch Father Cornello practically being mauled by the citizens of Liore.

"You're on, Ed!"

* * *

xXx

* * *

Edward groaned as he sat in his compartment, mentally imagining all the things Nana would do to him and Al when the two of them got back to Central Command.

"Al, we're done for. When we get back Nana is sure to skin us alive!"

"Oh come on Ed, be realistic! Nana wouldn't kill us… only maim you and send my helmet flying off somewhere in the distance… or transmuting my legs to the floor, she did that last time we came back and had caused trouble."

"Wow Al, I love how you manage to completely disintegrate my dream of ever living past the tender age of fifteen only by bringing our sister's violent tendencies into the picture." Edward deadpanned, making Alphonse chuckle sheepishly.

"Well Edward, let's look on the bright side of this! At least she didn't make a fake phone call to Winry this time and told her that you had totaled your automail!"

Edward shuddered involuntarily as his face turned an interesting shade of white.

"Oh! I also got her this so she won't kill us — and by us I mean you, Edward — with her bare fists!" Alphonse said cheekily as he searched for something in his little leg pouch, finally pulling out a small, clay kitten. In pink.

"Al… you do know that she got out of her 'everything-needs-to-be-pink-for-some-weird-reason'-rampage last year right? She's into maroon right now, although I don't have a damn idea why she chose that color of all the others."

"Well, Nana always was rather eccentric after your visit to Youswell."

Edward glared annoyed at Alphonse, "Could you stop bringing that up, Al? I don't even remember what happened that time."

"…would you believe me if I told you that the villagers got you drunk, this being the reason that is why you don't remember anything?"

Edward just looked at Alphonse with an expression in his eyes that the armor was unable to recognize.

"Ed?"

"…"

"Brother, are you alright?"

"…"

"Edward, please say something! You're scaring me!"

"…drunk, Al? They got me… _drunk_?!"

"…I just told you so, Ed, there's no need to make a fuss about it."

"THEY GOT ME DRUNK AND YOU ONLY TELL ME ABOUT IT _NOW_?!"

"Ed, be quiet, the conductor's going to lecture us again if you keep yelling!" Alphonse hissed, shooting a worried look around in the compartment, and quickly slammed his metal hand over Edward's rapidly moving lips.

"_MHRPGFT_!"

"Ed, I said _be quiet_!"

The train started slowing down ever so slightly, causing both brothers to look out of the windows to see a small train station just up ahead.

"_Smish ophur temorrani soff Alpnse_?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Alphonse asked, removing his hand from Edward's mouth.

"I said, is this our temporary stop, Alphonse?"

"Yeah, you should probably give the Colonel a call. Just to inform him that we're alright and on our way back home." Alphonse said strangely cheekily, looking down at his brother as if he is more than just a little amused.

"You're a sadist, Al, you know that right?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Brother."

Edward shot his brother a dirty glare before stepping out of the small compartment and then headed towards the train station's office, searching for a phone. Finding a very dusty phone booth in one of the corners, Edward grimaced at the sight of the unclean device. Using his sleeve he started rubbing the phone clean from grime... and whatever that weird, white liquid dripping from it was. He watched Alphonse step out of the train through the reflection in the glass surrounding the booth, and mentally sighed in relief when his younger brother headed in his direction.

He sighed heavily, staring at the device like it's the hellspawn of Satan, before sighing once _again_, and then he dialed the number he dreaded more than usually.

"_You have reached Colonel Roy Mustang's office, Roy Mustang speaking. What can I do for you?_"

Edward winced slightly, from the sound of the Colonel's voice he had done quite a bit of yelling. Probably because of what happened back in Liore.

"_Hello? Excuse me, but who is this?_"

"Hey Colonel… It's me, Edward."

"_…_"

"Just wanted to tell you that both Al and I are A-okay and on our way back to HQ."

"_…Fullmetal?_"

"Y-yeah?"

"_DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT ALL THE DAMAGE REPORTS I'VE RECEIVED THE LAST TWELVE HOURS?!_"

Edward winced at the Colonel's furious tone, rubbing his aching ear away from the phone.

"_I'VE BEEN PRACTICALLY BOLTED TO MY CHAIR BECAUSE OF ALL THE COMPLAINTS COMING IN FROM LIORE! DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!_"

"Uh… I'm sorry and it won't happen again?" Edward tried hesitantly, leaning away from the phone in case that the Colonel started off on another yelling-rampage.

"_You're in deep trouble when you get back here, Fullmetal, and I am not the one waiting to carry your punishment out!_"

"Wait! Colonel, please don't let Nana get any—"

Edward heard the telltale click in the phone, signaling that the Colonel had put down the phone in his end, and the adolescent groaned.

"Brother? What's wrong?"

At the sound of his brother's voice Edward turned around and looked up at his brother, his face white and the hand holding the phone trembling.

"Al… It was nice knowing you." Edward whimpered and Alphonse stiffened for just a few seconds before he tried consoling his brother by patting his shoulder.

"Nice knowing you too, Ed. Don't worry, I'll continue on our search."

* * *

xXx

* * *

Nana Elric normally didn't consider herself a violent person. Temperamental perhaps, but certainly not violent. But still, here she was, looking through the wrenches down by the department of Central Command that maintained vehicles, to see if any of the wrenches they had were heavy enough to get through Edward's — in her opinion — thick skull. The mechanics were all eyeing her carefully, not a single one of them quite brave enough to try and cross the youngest Elric when she was on the warpath.

"Numbskulls the two of them… outta kick their asses to Dublith… sick Mr. Hughes on 'em…" Nana growled, her dark caramel eyes flashing furiously as she pushed a few strands of honey blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Nana, what are you doing down here? The Chief and Al aren't arriving until tomorrow at noon."

"Go away, Havoc, m'busy." Nana grumbled, not even giving the soldier a single glance as she weighed two different wrenches in her hands.

"Havoc?"

"Mmm?"

"Y'think that an iron wrench or a steel prosthetic is enough to knock Ed out?"

Havoc winced, still not quite used to her rather eccentric temperament despite having been around her for the last three years.

"Look, the Chief messed up, I know that, but don't you think that chucking automail and wrenches after him is a little over the top?"

"Nah, Winry does it all the time whenever Ed pisses her off so I don't see why I can't try to knock some sense into him the same way." Nana declared, not really bothering to see Havoc's surprised expression.

"...for real?"

"Mmm, Winry's gotten a perfect aim over the last three years because every single time that Ed wrecks his automail it's Winry who has to fix it and well... Al and I just let nature run its cause."

"Damn, no wonder he's dazed when he gets back from Resembool." Havoc muttered, feeling for the teenager when he thought about all the times where Edward had gotten a lecture from the Colonel about not being good at keeping his attention the same place for long.

"It's hilarious to watch though... still, Havoc, wrench or automail?"

Havoc sweatdropped, "You sure can be sadistic when you want to, Nana."

"I'll choose to take that one as a compliment, Lt. Havoc."

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**Please review!**


	2. Ah, The Love of Siblings

**Silly, silly reader! If I had owned FMA there would have been lolcatz involved… loads and loads of lolcatz…**

* * *

Chapter 2: Ah, The Love Of Siblings

* * *

Roy stared at the two scowling kids before him in shock. Nana had a fractured lip, bruises all over her arms and what he could see of her torso, while Edward looked like he has been run over by a truck with his mussed blond hair, a black eye, and several cuts on his face, while his automail arm looked like it had been halfway crushed by something heavy.

"What in all the circles of Hell _happened_ to you two?" the Colonel gasped in shock as he stares at them with wide eyes.

Breda dropped his sandwich down in his lap when the two siblings, minus Alphonse for once, walked in and headed over to Mustang's desk where Ed had thrown down a report. Havoc's smoke had fallen from his mouth, and he had hurried to the nearest restroom in order to try and dull the pain from getting a lit cigarette in contact with his hand, while Fuery and Falman had let their jaws nearly hit the floor. Hawkeye had just looked at them shortly, before sighing deeply, and left to get some bandages and rubbing alcohol for the kids' wounds.

"Ask _him_." Nana growled, shooting her older brother a glare that was close to make poor Fuery cry, while Edward turned his head so he could look at Nana as an amazed expression appeared on his face.

"Oh, so it's _my_ fault now, is it?"

"Well, let's go through what happened one more time, Edward, just because Colonel Mustang asked so nicely!" Nana snarled, glaring straight at Edward with livid eyes, "I decided not to thrash your head with the heaviest wrench I could find, and instead walked towards the station to meet Alphonse and you like the _kind_, _loving_ sister I am. We walk back to Central Command, but because you're too much of a chicken to face the Colonel you wanna take the long way, which means that we have to go through downtown Central right after people have been let off work. You then start a fight with a bunch of drunkards even though you just could have ignored them, then you won't let it go that they call you, and here, Colonel Mustang, I quote, "cute, little kiddy kid", only for you to tell them that you're a State Alchemist! And, just as the cherry on top of course, you end up destroying half the bar they walked out off as well as part of the orphanage across the street!"

"I apologized to the managers of both places, for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, well did that stop them for demanding a fine for what you did? That funding is supposed to be used for your research, and for maintenance of those automail limbs of yours, not to pay aggravated shopkeepers and managers!"

"Alright, I got the message _mom_!"

"Oh my God, you're _INFURIATING_!"

"Oh yeah? Well, so are you, ya little brat!"

"_Shortass shrimp_!"

"_Microscopic baby ant_!

"_Atomic-sized peewee_!

"_Idiotic blonde_!"

"Oh so now we're throwing in prejudices too, huh? Wow, _real_ mature there, Eddie-boy!"

"Right now you're just proving my point by going on with this argument! If anyone here's a stupid blonde, Nana, then it's you!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"_Are too!_"

"_AM NOT!_"

"_ARE TOO!_"

"_AM NOT!_"

"Why don't you just butt out of this and go complain to someone else like the orphaned brat you are!" Ed roared, throwing his hands up above his head in desperation, only to immediately flinch when Nana stiffened and a cool expression covered her before oh-so-livid face just as Hawkeye came back with the bandages.

"Where are you going, Nana? You need to have those bruises looked at."

"I'll do it myself, Miss Riza. Right now I'm not gonna stay in the same room as Fullmetal." Nana hissed before she took the bandages Riza held out to her and stomped out of the office, heading back to the room in the dorms they usually stayed in.

"Well, Fullmetal, that went well." Roy commented, his eyebrow nearing his hairline when he got a sight on Breda and Fuery who were hiding behind their desks while Falman seemed to have stopped shaking and instead was just shaking his head, quickly going back to his crossword puzzle.

"Dammit all to Hell! I really shouldn't have said that." Edward growled, rubbing a hand over his face as the image of Nana's cool and unemotional face popped up inside his mind.

_'Dammit! I just had to go and say that, didn't I…'_

"You got your report, Colonel. Anything else we need to talk about?" Edward asked sullenly, sitting down in the couch leaning against the left wall in the room.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Nana leaned against the wall, bangs obscuring her face, as she kept turning and twisting the words Edward had said not even five minutes ago.

_"Why don't you just butt out of this and go complain to someone else like the orphaned brat you are!"_

With a scoff she straightened her back and walked away from the office, nodding politely to anyone who might say 'Hello' to her, but she didn't look at anyone. She just kept looking forward and closed everything else out.

"Nana! Wait up!"

She stiffened momentarily, turning around as the telltale sound of iron grinding against iron sounded behind her. Immediately Alphonse stopped up, looking intensely at the bruises littering her face.

"What happened Nana? I thought that you would have gotten those bruises looked at by now."

"Al… hey…" she muttered, refusing to meet his glowing eyes. "Look, I'm kinda busy right now so could it wait?"

"Oh…" Al said, sounding almost disappointed, "But I wanted to give you the souvenir that I got you in Liore!" he said and immediately started searching for the small figurine in his pouch.

"Here it is, Nana! I hope you like it!" Alphonse grinned as he finally got the small cat up from his pouch, and proudly presents it to his sister. Nana blinked a few times, taking in the delicate cat's appearance as it was sitting innocently in Alphonse's giant hand, and a soft smile spread on her lips.

"Thanks Al… I love it." Nana said softly and gently picked the small, pink figurine up. "It's going straight to the other figurines I've got back in Colonel Mustang's office. Y'know, the one back in East City."

"You're...okay with the color? I'd forgotten that you liked maroon, sorry..."

"It's...it's okay, Alphonse, really. You can't remember everything at all times..."

If Alphonse could have grinned his entire face would be shining like a million suns at Nana's words, but instead he gave her a thumbs up and a small chuckle. "Just make sure to get those bruises looked at. I'll go and see if Brother's finished with the Colonel."

Nana felt the smile on her lips begin to strain just a tad and she just nodded mellowly instead of letting Alphonse see her distress.

"Sure, Al, I'll see you guys later!" she chirped before running off, clenching the small figurine in her hand.

Alphonse watched as his little sister run off, clenching his gloved hand tightly, "I wonder why she acted like that…"

Alphonse shrugged it off and headed for Mustang's office, deadset on finding out why his little sister looked like somebody had kicked the bucket.

Reaching the door, the giant armor grabbed the handle and opened.

* * *

xXx

* * *

"_WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING, EDWARD?! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY, SHE'S OUR SISTER_!"

A good portion of the soldiers stationed at Central Command near the temporary office of Colonel Roy Mustang all screamed bloody murder and sought cover underneath desks and chairs at the sound of one _very_ angry younger brother to Edward Elric.

"Look, Al, I'm sorr—"

"_SORRY WON'T CUT IT THIS TIME, ED! HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW SHE HATES IT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IT!_"

Again the soldiers of Central were shocked thoroughly, although this time they just hid even further beneath their desks or chairs, all wishing that what is happening was nothing more than a bad dream.

A really, really bad dream.

"...should...should I go and find her?"

Those closest by, at least those whose eardrums hadn't been mangled beyond all repair yet, almost fainted at the sound that they never thought they'd ever hear in their existence here on God's green Earth.

A submissive Edward Elric.

"_DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD!_"

With a squeal Edward darted out of the door leading into Mustang's office, leaving behind his brother and a band of windblown soldiers in his aftermath.

"Did… did Fullmetal just _squeal_?" Mustang muttered, staring at the door in horror before reaching down below his desk and fishing up a bottle of scotch. Removing the lid he leaned back in his chair and took a large gulp from the flask, silently passing it on to his subordinates after he was done.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Nana looked at the small, pink figurine in her hand, gently caressing the smooth head before wrapping her hand around it once again to keep it safe.

_"Why don't you just butt out of this and go complain to someone else like the orphaned brat you are!"_

She scowled, not once registering how the sky had started to darken, and headed down a small alleyway, hoping to reach the main road at some point.

_"Why don't you just butt out of this and go complain to someone else like the orphaned brat you are!"_

After getting to their dorm room Nana had remembered that first of all she didn't have a key to the room, Edward had it, and she couldn't get a replacement without being with one from the military. That left her roaming around on the streets to cool off, waiting for Alphonse and Edward to return.

"He better apologize!" Nana muttered, her brown eyes flashing in defiance for a few seconds, before she turned left and then promptly stopped.

This was not the main road.

Dark, partially lit up houses filled both sides of the uneven pavement, the only thing that really stood out being a large wooden sign that spelled 'The Greasy Array' with a pair of shady men smoking to their heart's content outside while speaking softly to each other.

"Well… I guess I've found the shady part of Central…" Nana muttered before heading out on the small street, not seeing the gleaming red eyes that followed her from the black shadows.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Ed ran.

He didn't stroll like one of that kind of teenage boys who thought they walked with _style_.

He didn't skip like someone who clearly _just_ had made an escape from the hospital after being drugged three sheets to the wind.

He most certainly didn't _frolick_ like that one weird guy he'd seen one evening in East City's more vibrant part of town.

No.

He _ran_.

Few things scared Edward thoroughly, Hell, he'd admit that almost nothing in Amestris could scare him at all! Unless that certain thing would be Alphonse Elric when mad or Izumi Curtis when mad... whoever came first of those two.

Alphonse was normally docile, a sweet, harmless fellow with a heart of gold who most certainly would end up as a fuzzy, male cat lady when he got his body back and become an old, toothless grandpa. However, whenever Alphonse had gotten mad in the past it was a sight very few had been having the privilege to experience. Winry was one of them, Granny Pinako another, but those two didn't really count seeing as they had practically raised the three Elric Siblings.

Those who hadn't seen Alphonse get mad tended to come out of it with either torn eardrums or in serious need of a psychiatrist, something that always ended up with Edward paying nearly his own weight in gold for treatments. He merely thanked whatever force drove the Universe that such things only had happened twice so far in his life.

Alphonse getting _mad_, not mad but _mad_, usually had the entire half of Eastern Command in a bundle because A, Edward usually was that one person that Alphonse was angry with, or B, Edward was usually the one who carried out whatever cruel vengeance that Alphonse couldn't make himself do to those who had made him mad. The last time it had happened the entire Eastern Command had been on a lockdown for a week, nothing getting in or out of the Eastern Command Center.

As he ran through the crowded streets of Central Edward remembered what he'd said to her, to Nana, to his little sister.

_"Why don't you just butt out of this and go complain to someone else like the orphaned brat you are!"_

"I'm such an idiot!" Edward grunted, stopping momentarily to catch his breath as he leaned against a lamp post.

Men and women watched him as they passed by, some muttering about how utterly lost he looked while others muttered about what a State Alchemist was doing in Central at this late hour instead of sitting buried between books.

_"...should...should I go and find her?"_

_"DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD!"_

Alphonse hadn't been mad this time… he had been utterly _furious_. He had been livid, ravenous, boiling and, worst of all, Ed knew that it's his fault this time.

The young State Alchemist straightened his back and started running again, his golden eyes burning in determination.

* * *

xXx

* * *

"_Hello? Charise speaking._"

"Hey Charise, it's Jean Havoc."

"_Jean, darling! How nice of you to call!_"

Havoc grimaced, dreading what he was about to say.

"Yeah, Charise, I won't be able to go on that date tonight… something with work came up."

"_Oh…_"

Havoc grimaced once again, the drops of sweat rolling down his neck as Alphonse's glare felt like being shot repeatedly by Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"Yeah, sorry…"

"_Don't be, Jean. We can plan another date in one of the following days._"

"Sure, I'll call you when I have the time. Later."

"_Later, Jean_."

Havoc put down the phone and turned around to glare accusingly up at Alphonse.

"You _so_ owe me for this, Alphonse! Now my date was cancelled because the Chief couldn't keep his mouth shut!"

"Don't waste time, Lieutenant Havoc. Neither Ed nor Nana has come back yet, and I'm worried." Alphonse said, suddenly throwing a screaming Jean over his shoulder before he bolted through Central's lit streets.

"It's _you_ who sent him out to find her in the first place, you moron!"

"Like I said, Lieutenant Havoc, _don't waste time_!" Alphonse yelled.

An MP looked at the scene before he shook his head, silently promising himself never to drink a double martini before a nightshift ever again.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Charise looked down on her phone for a few moments before shrugging, smiling widely and quickly dialing another number with practiced motions.

"_Hello, Roy Mustang speaking._"

"Hi Roy, it's Charise! You wouldn't mind going on a date would you?"

What Jean didn't know didn't hurt him, after all.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Edward looked through the windows to every single store that still had open at this hour, but every time he was met with disappointment.

"Where is she?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head as he scanned his surroundings for evidence of his sister. His search had at some point went towards the more dodgy part of Central, now placing him outside a pub by the name 'The Greasy Array'.

"...little girl doing here of all places. Heard that Carl asked her if she wanted a drink and she twisted his arm. She looked kinda pissed."

Edward turned towards the men talking, a desperate look in his eyes. "You've seen her?! Where did she go?"

The men outside the bar looked at him in surprise, clearly not used to seeing someone as young as him in this particular neighborhood.

"What's this? Shouldn't you be in bed by now, boy? This ain't a place for someone like you."

Edward felt his eyebrow twitch, a scowl slowly creeping up on his face as he glared at the two patrons.

"I couldn't care less about your opinion! The only thing I'm interested in is where the girl, that you mentioned earlier, went!"

"Why should we tell you?" one of the men asked, smirking at the annoyed expression on Edward's face.

"You _will_ tell me where she went or else let's just say that your arm won't be functional for a few weeks." Edward growled, feeling him temper flare up as he glared up at the older men.

Just then the door to 'The Greasy Array' opened up, interrupting the staring contest between Edward and the adults, and out staggered a more than drunk man, clad in greasy and dirty clothes. He shook his head violently before locking his eyes on Edward, giving him the elevator-look as a grin spread on his lips.

"Well wouldn't ya kno'it! A lil' bird made 'er way down 'ere! Whaddya say, sweetie, care for a drink with meh?"

Edward blinked in surprise, not really understanding what the drunk man was talking about, as the men he'd been close to fighting started snickering.

"George, you moron, it's not a girl you're talking to! It's a boy!" one of the men snickered, his facial expression starting to turn even redder as he watched how Edward's face went from pink to dark red to a blueish purple.

"Wha—?"

The drunkard was promptly cut off when Edward's absolutely murderous eyes connected with his own glazed ones.

"Y'wanna f'ght, pipsqueak?!" the drunkard slurred, shakily raising his fists at the fuming Elric.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK SMALL ENOUGH TO BE LEFT BEHIND AT A FLEA CIRCUS?!"

The men blinked in confusion.

"But...no one said that…"

"I'M STILL GROWING YOU DAMN IDIOTS! WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GONNA CALL ME, HUH? A PINT-SIZED MIDGET? AN ANT? WHAT ABOUT BLONDE SMURF?!"

"Why's he ranting like that? It's like he's demonic…"

"I SEVERELY HOPE THAT YOU _ALL BURN IN HELL_ YOU _CRUEL_, _IGNORANT_ _PEOPLE_! I HAVE RIGHTS TOO, Y'KNOW, AND JUST 'CAUSE I'M SMALL DOESN'T MEAN THAT I'M NOT CAPABLE OF TAKING CARE OF MYSELF, YOU—!"

Edward made a strange gurgling sound when his collar tore in his throat, his hands immediately going up to try and loosen the tightness that constricted his airways.

Somehow, the skill of wiggling around was used quite a lot, Edward managed to turn around to see just who it was attacking him.

His assailant was hidden halfway in the dark, the only visible being the long honey blonde hair and... maroon jacket? Wait was that...

"Nana?"

* * *

**Please review!**


	3. How the Elrics Made Up

**Silly, silly reader! If I had owned FMA there would have been lolcatz involved… loads and loads of lolcatz…**

* * *

Chapter 3: How The Elrics Made Up

* * *

Havoc groaned, leaning his forehead against the nearest lamppost as he rested his eyes for a moment.

"Alphonse…I'm tired!" the lieutenant whined, looking pitifully up at the large suit of armor who didn't even glance down at him.

"Then take a dip in that fountain over there, Lieutenant Havoc, I need you to be wide awake," Alphonse stated as he peeked into a dark alleyway.

The streets of Central were dimly lit, only illuminated every few meters by the lampposts standing near the road.

"Where could they be?" Havoc groaned, wordlessly grabbing for his pack of cigarettes in his breast pocket and the lighter he kept in another small pocket.

Inhaling deeply he got the small cancer stick lit up and quickly breathed in the familiar smoke filled with nicotine.

"I don't know… I'm really worried about them," Alphonse said weakly as he sat down on a nearby bench, not even looking up when Jean joined him silently.

"Look, Alphonse," Jean began, not really knowing what to say, "They'll turn up when they do. Edward's a big boy and y'know that he can take care of himself. If the Chief's found Nana then you can be sure that not a single thing will be able to hurt her."

Alphonse nodded silently, the joints in his armor creaking when he shifted eerily.

"Ed was a moron, no doubt about that, but he was angry as well…they just keep egging each other on if you follow my drift," Alphonse muttered, glaring annoyed at the sidewalk.

"Tell me 'bout it, Alphonse…" Jean groaned as he tapped his cigarette a few times, watching in a bored manner as the gray ash fell to the ground.

"Well, we better get going. They're not gonna find themselves, are they?" Alphonse chirped, standing up and reaching out towards the grumbling soldier.

Pouting for a few moments Jean finally threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it before accepting the armor-clad hand, letting Alphonse drag him God knows where in search of the two missing Elrics.

* * *

xXx

* * *

"Wait up!" Edward yelled, scrambling onto his feet before he ran after the girl, "Nana, I said _wait up_!"

He continued following his sister down the barely lit street, easily keeping up with her quick pace despite having to zigzag through the steadily increasing flow of people.

_'She's leading me into the more populated parts of Central! That little brat is trying to get rid of me!'_ Edward thought angrily, clenching his hands into tight fists as he started running faster than before, always right behind his runaway sister.

Time and time again he lost her for a few seconds, feeling a temptation to just stop in the middle of the street and stomp his automail-foot against the concrete pavement like a toddler.

...

...

...

Nah, that probably wouldn't be a good idea if he even cared a tad about his image to the public.

_'Where _is_ she, dammit?' _Edward grumbled, jumping up on a box to look out over the crowd of people steadily walking around on the street. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, making sure not to accidentally fall, still searching for a mop of honey-blonde hair.

Nana was usually given away by her jacket ever since she'd gotten it into her head that maroon was her favorite color and blackmailed Edward, through means that never would be mentioned as long as he lived, into transmuting her jacket in just that color. That he couldn't find her right now was annoying beyond what words could describe.

"Nana!" Edward called out, smirking when a red-clad girl stopped for a moment, and that was all he needed. He jumped down from the crate and quickly slipped between a young couple blocking his way. The second he was near her Edward got a hold of her arm and promptly dragged her to the side, away from any curious eyes and ears, "You should start listening to your elders, Nana," he commented dryly, feeling a soft smile slip onto his face despite the annoyance in his voice.

"Let go," she muttered, not meeting his eyes, "I don't feel like talking to you right now, Edward."

Edward scowled, glaring at his sister for a few moments before tightening his grip around her arm, "Nana, look, I'm sorry, alright? I was stupid and didn't think what I was saying through."

"Oh _really_?" came Nana's sarcastic reply as she turned around to look up at her brother, "Whatever gave you _that_ idea, Edward?"

Her eyes were red and slightly puffy, inwardly making Edward wince; he knew it was his fault, but other than a few smudges of grime on her cheeks and her neck, as well as her tousled hair, she looked fine.

"Do you have any idea of how it makes someone else feel, Edward?" she then asked, making Edward shuffle on his feet as he tried avoiding her eyes, "Do you have any idea of how left out those words made me feel?"

"I—"

"I may not be your real sister, Ed, but that didn't stop Mom from loving me just as much as she loved you! Or Dad for that matter!" Nana hissed, inwardly cursing when she saw hatred and anger flash across Edward's face.

"Don't bring him into this, Nana! I know that what I did was wrong, now stop yelling at me!" Edward grumbled, glaring at Nana in annoyance.

"Pipsqueak!"

"Blonde!"

"Hah, jokes on you, Ed, you're blonde as well!"

"Stop making everything I say counterproductive, brat!"

"Brother! Nana!"

Both looked up, seeing Alphonse come running towards them with a sluggishly moving Jean Havoc behind him, and smiles spread on their faces.

"We've been looking all over for you!" Alphonse said as he came to a halt before them, turning around to look down at Havoc, "See, Lt. Havoc? I told you we'd find them!"

"T... that's j-just..._fantastic_, Alphonse," Havoc gasped, dragging himself over before Nana and grabbing onto her shoulders as he sunk to the ground, "P-please don't... make A-Alphonse worry... like that... ever... _again_, kid!"_  
_

"R-right..." Nana murmured (ignoring Edward's question, "Hey isn't he supposed to be a soldier?") as she looked sympathetically at the heavily breathing soldier.

_'Nothing in the whole world could make me hate you, not even for a second... thank you, guys.'_

Nana let loose the giggle trapped in her throat, not long after having both Edward and Alphonse laughing with her.

"Hey... Ed," Nana said and looked up at the light polluted night sky, "I forgive you..."

Edward smiled and reached out a hand, "Thanks Nana... who knows what would have happened if you continued to be mad at me, huh?"

"The apocalypse..." Havoc groaned as he looked at the three siblings, "You three are going to be responsible for the apocalypse."

Nana giggled once again, "Stop being so dramatic, Lt. Havoc, it kills half the fun we have with the Colonel and you guys."

Alphonse looked towards Central Command, "We should probably head back, you two are bound to be pretty tired about now."

Nana and Edward looked at each other, finally starting to feel the exhaustion from running all across Central.

"Yeah," Nana muttered, tugging her short jacket tighter around her waist, "Let's go back."

* * *

xXx

* * *

Violet eyes watched the sunset lazily as slender fingers picked up a ringing phone.

"Yes?"

"_Lust, it seems that the Elric brats have decided to move back to East City. Go there with Gluttony and make sure that they don't go and get themselves killed. Envy will join you there as soon as he can, he still needs to keep an eye on Liore._"

"Oh," Lust mused, "is that so, Pride?"

"_Indeed. Finish whatever you're occupied with and then move out. Those are his orders._"

"Fine, I get it… so long," Lust said before putting down the phone without waiting for a reply. She turned her head to look at her companion.

"Gluttony, we're going to have to move soon, be a dear and make sure that there's no loose ends."

The short Homunculus grinned wickedly, blood dripping from his crimson teeth.

"Eugh, that's disgusting, Gluttony! Lust, tell'im to start rinsing his teeth!"

Lust eyed her other companion lazing about in a chaise-long in a bored manner before stretching her slender arms above her head, "Do it yourself, Envy... I've got some things to take care of..."

The buxom woman got onto her feet and walked out of the room, a lazy smirk appearing on her lips.

The Fullmetal Alchemist and his little family would never know what hit them.

* * *

**Please review!**


	4. Shou Tucker, I Choose You!

**Silly, silly reader! If I had owned FMA there would have been lolcatz involved… loads and loads of lolcatz…**

* * *

Chapter 4: Shou Tucker, I Choose You!

* * *

Here they were—"Again? Freaking again?!" Edward had snapped in annoyance when Mustang had handed him a report—sitting on a train on their way back to East City.

"Come on, Ed, cheer up! It'll only be four hours," Nana said calmly as she shuffled a deck of cards carefully, keeping one eye steadily trained on her oldest brother the entire time to make sure that he didn't try to pull any kind of trick on them, "Al, be a dear and make sure that Ed doesn't have any hidden cards on him, pretty please?" she continued sweetly, smiling up at Alphonse who chuckled in response to his sister's antics.

"Don't you dare, Al!" Edward grumbled, eyeing his brother cautiously as he edged closer towards the window.

"Oh Brother…" Alphonse muttered as he turned his attention back on the book he had been reading up until now.

"So… what did Mr. Mustang want to tell you guys about?"

Edward looked at Alphonse, watching him nod, before he looked back at Nana, "The Colonel just wanted to tell us about this State Alchemist called Shou Tucker, apparently he transmuted a talking chimera a few years ago."

"Oh," Nana muttered, her face going dark the second Edward mentioned chimeras, before she started dealing out the cards, "How'd he do it?"

"I dunno, Nana, the Colonel didn't tell me. It's probably been classified as strictly confidential so many times that not even the Führer's permission could grant us access to it," Edward commented dryly, accepting the small handful of cards Nana had given him before he looked out of the window.

"Colonel Mustang suggested that we spoke to him when we get back to East City, Nana. You should come with us," Alphonse said as he pocketed his book, "And Colonel Mustang also told us that he had a daughter. You could play with her!"

"You think?" Nana asked curiously before she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, "But… I've never really…"

"Never really what?" Alphonse asked.

"Y'know… played with much… girly stuff," Nana muttered.

"Wow, never thought that you actually _knew_ the word 'girly-stuff'," Edward commented from the side.

"Oh ha, ha, Ed, your sense of humor astounds me," Nana grumbled before giving Alphonse his set of cards.

Edward flashed her a short smirk before he turned his attention to the cards in his hands, subtly reaching up to scratch his neck while trying to sneak a hidden card into his hand.

"I saw that, Brother!"

Immediately his attention was on Alphonse who lunged out for him, catching Edward by the leg, and immediately he started shaking the much smaller boy.

"ALPHONSE! PUT ME DOWN!" Edward howled, his face red from anger and embarrassment, but he had no such luck, "AS OLDEST BROTHER I DEMAND THAT YOU PUT ME DOWN!"

Nana giggled, snatching the cards Alphonse shook from their brother's clothes.

She was already feeling sorry for East City, they'd just gotten used to not having Edward rampage through the city when some moron stupid enough to attract the military's attention had started plaguing the city.

"—LREADY SAID THAT I WOULDN'T CHEAT, AL! PUT ME DOWN!" Edward screeched and Nana sighed as she grabbed the cards lying around all over the small train compartment, shuffling them once again.

She really felt sorry for East City.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Normally Roy Mustang was a very patient man—paperwork aside—but if he continued listening to the man speaking in the phone any longer, either his eardrums would combust or his brain would suffer a meltdown.

"_Roy, are you even listening to me?_"

"W-what? Oh, yeah, Hughes, pink is a lovely color for Gracia, go for it," Mustang said, snapping out of the haze he'd been trapping himself in as Hughes had continued rambling about his wife and daughter for God knows how long.

"_That wasn't even what I told you about, Roy. I said that Elysia looks so adorable on the tricycle you transmuted for her on her birthday last year,_" Hughes said dryly in the other end, making the Colonel rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, sorry about that, Hughes, I was kinda spacing out, too much paperwork," Mustang said quickly, rubbing his temples in an attempt to ease the beginning headache forming behind his forehead.

"_Anyways, Roy, you'd better be careful,_" Hughes said, his voice turning low and serious, "_Killings have been happening in Central as of late, the victims have been State Alchemists_."

"A serial killer in Central?"

"_Yeah, Basque Grand bit the dust just last night,_" Hughes revealed, "_Roy, do me a favor and keep an eye on the Elrics would you? The killer seems to be heading east_."

Roy frowned, "Yes, Hughes, of course I will," he said, hearing Hughes say a quick goodbye before he put down the phone on its stand.

"Sir?"

He looked up, meeting the curious eyes of Riza Hawkeye as a soft smile appeared on his lips.

"It's nothing to worry about right now, Lieutenant, let's just wait for the Elrics to arrive here," Mustang said, taking a pen in his hand as he looked over the paperwork waiting to be filled in on his desk.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Edward stared at the house before him in awe, for a moment losing himself in its enormousness.

"It's so huge," he gaped much to the amusement of Nana and Alphonse.

"Well, he _did_ transmute a chimera that could speak our language, Brother, so of course the military would get him a little something extra," Alphonse mused as he took in the appearance of the house.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home though," Nana said, looking in through one of the windows before running back to her brothers.

"They should be home, Chief," Havoc called, inhaling on his cigarette over by the gate and squeezing it with his heel before joining the other three.

"You sure?" Edward asked, raising a single eyebrow in question, just as the sound of four running feet registered in his ear, "What the—GAH!"

A huge, furry mass of… well fur had launched itself at Edward and promptly flatted him.

"Brother, are you alright?" Alphonse asked meekly, not daring to come closer to the huge pile of dog, while Nana had squealed in delight the second she had laid eyes on the creature.

"Oh that's _adorable_! Ed, can we get a dog?" Nana squealed, petting and nuzzling the huge dog, but she was ignored by both brothers.

"_Mpphfrgh_!" Edward screamed underneath the dog, flailing whatever body part—his fingers—was available.

"I'll take that as a yes then…" Alphonse muttered, looking up when a door opening sounded.

"Daddy look! We have guests!"

Nana and Alphonse turned towards the door, both laughing sheepishly as they looked up at their host.

"Great, well, Chief, I'll come by later to pick you guys up!" Havoc called, heading back to the car.

* * *

xXx

* * *

"I apologize for the house's state, since my wife left me a few years ago it's been like this," Tucker said softly as he showed his guest into the dining room, almost immediately returning to the kitchen for a teakettle and several china-cups.

"No worries, Mr. Tucker, Brother isn't very good at keeping order either," Alphonse said calmly, ignoring the spluttering alchemist behind him as he patiently waited for Tucker to return. Through the window Alphonse could see Nana and Nina tumble around, their laughter echoing outside when Nana chased Nina and the dog—"Alexander!" he heard Nina exclaim on top of the dog—throughout the entire garden.

"Your little sister seems to have quite a way with children, how old is she?"

Startled, Alphonse turned his helmet and nodded at Tucker, "Yeah, she's taking it better than Brother and I had counted on."

"Oh? Do tell," Tucker said calmly, looking out through the window just as Nina, Alexander and Nana came running by.

"She was nervous about meeting your daughter, she's not the most social of persons," Edward said curtly.

"A-anyways, Mr. Tucker, we came here to see of you would be interested in helping us out with biological alchemy. You see, we—" Alphonse began only to be stopped by Edward.

"Al, I think it'd be best if we showed it instead of just speaking about it. Mr. Tucker, would you mind drawing the curtains?"

Tucker shook his head and went over to the large window, drawing the dusty, purple curtains while keeping an eye on his guests.

Edward stood up and handed Alphonse his red coat, immediately reaching up to unbuckle the button tying together the black jacket he wore underneath his coat. That too went straight to

"Mr. Elric?" Tucker asked, more than a little curious about Edward's behavior, until he saw what Edward was hiding beneath his black jacket.

"We made a mistake, Mr. Tucker, and I'd like to ask for your help," Edward said calmly, staring straight into Tucker's eyes without blinking even for a second.

"…I see," Tucker said, pushing up his glasses, before nodding, "And I also understand, I will show you my research. You can use my library if your curiosity isn't stilled with my experiments."

The sound of the front door opening was heard and almost instantly Edward tensed up, reaching for his clothes immediately as Nana's and Nina's voices sounded out in the hall.

"_Big Sister Nana, do you wanna make daisy-chains with me and Alexander later?_"

"_Sure thing, Nina! I'll be back in just a moment!_"

"Thank you," Edward muttered, pulling his jacket and cloak on just as the two girls entered the room with rosy cheeks and large smiles plastered on their faces.

"H-hey Ed! Hey Al! Hey Mr. Tucker! It sure is nice outside!" Nana giggled, her face radiating happiness, and Edward smiled back at her.

"That's good, Nana. You think that you could keep Nina company for the rest of the day? Mr. Tucker has allowed to help us with some research," Alphonse asked before poking around in the pouch he had around his leg, "Here, I bought this book the other day, you could read it with her," Alphonse gave Nana the book before turning his attention back to Tucker.

Nana's eyebrows rose as she read the title.

"'_The Chimera and the Three Pigs_'" she sighed, "Al if I didn't know any better I'd say that both you and Ed are trying to make my knowledge of alchemy even more limited than it already is," she giggled, ignoring the annoyed look Edward shot at her, before turning around and running back in the hall to find Nina.

"Mr. Tucker, should we head down to your library?" Edward asked, smiling strained at the elder State Alchemist who discreetly coughed to cover up a snort of laughter.

"Of course, Mr. Elric, right this way," Tucker said calmly, standing up from the table and leading the way down to his cellar.

"Ms. Nana isn't related directly to you, is she?" Tucker asked calmly as he led the two brothers downstairs to his lab.

Alphonse tensed up slightly—as did Edward—but neither brother said a word.

"I apologize if I have spoken out of hand, I was merely curious," Tucker said quickly, turning around to look at his two guests in apology.

"It's fine, we get it a lot when we meet new people," Edward said curtly, "And yes, Nana isn't directly related to us."

"I see, please accept my apology then," Tucker said, silently leading the boys down to a large pair of oaken doors, fiddling with a few keys as he unlocked the many locks keeping the door shut.

Edward felt a sense of dread come over him as he watched the large doors, and not just because of the muted sounds of feral creatures he could hear behind the thick wood, but swallowed the heavy lump in his throat and instead forced a somewhat interested expression onto his face the second that Tucker finally unlocked his doors.

"It's a little embarrassing actually to have people come here and see what I've been doing, it hasn't been going all that well actually for the past year with my research," Tucker said apologetically as he watched the two brothers gape at the screaming and snarling creatures all caged properly.

"This is amazing, Mr. Tucker!" Alphonse breathed in awe as he stepped closer to inspect the caged chimeras while Edward looked over a few schematics lying on Tucker's lab desk.

"It's amazing, Mr. Tucker, it really is, but I don't think that these notes could help us out. Would you mind showing us where your library is?" Edward asked, his before so grave and serious personality slowly being overrun by the urge he felt whenever new data was available to him.

"Of course, Mr. Elric," Tucker said with a soft smile on his lips as he gestured out of his lab and headed further down the hallway. Opening another set of huge doors Tucker stepped inside to turn on the lights, only to blink in surprise when he saw the face of Edward as he took in the sight of all the books.

Both boys stared at the library in awe before darting off, running to the nearest bookcase and tearing down five different books before planting themselves on the ground.

Tucker smiled, watching the two of them for a few moments before silently closing the door, leaving them to their own thoughts.

* * *

**Please review!**


	5. Peek-A-Boo with Nina!

**Silly, silly reader! If I had owned FMA there would have been lolcatz involved… loads and loads of lolcatz…**

* * *

Chapter 5: Peek-A-Boo With Nina!

* * *

Edward groaned as he clapped the book he was sitting with shut and stood up to stretch his limbs.

"Brother?" Alphonse questioned, looking up from his '_Chimera Physiology_'-book.

"Oh man am I stiff! Al, come on, we need some exercise," Edward said, pointing towards the door with a huge grin on his face, and Alphonse chuckled.

His older brother really was a kid sometimes.

They could distantly hear the squeals from both Nina and Nana outside along with the occasional _woof_ from Alexander as the enormous dog chased the girls around no doubt.

"Nana really likes Nina, huh Brother?" Alphonse mused, looking down at Edward.

"Yeah, I think she should spend some time here whenever we're in town," Edward said, scratching the back of his head as he pushed open the doors leading out into the hall.

"It seems like a good idea, she'll be able to have fun with those at her own age too," Alphonse said happily.

"She fainted, Al," Edward said curtly, knocking down Alphonse's glee a peg or two.

"She just got a little excited, Ed," Alphonse chuckled

Edward nodded, smiling at the memory of last night.

-l-

-l-

_Nana's cheeks were flushed as the three of them sat down on the couch inside Mustang's office._

_"Hello there, I didn't expect you three to be back so soon, Fullmetal," Mustang said as he entered the room, a dark eyebrow raised at the sight before him, "You sure seem excited, Nana."_

_"They have a _dog_, Mr. Mustang! And he's _adorable_!" Nana squealed excitedly, her brown eyes brimming with joy._

_"Oh, is that so?" Roy said with a smile, walking around his desk to pull out the chair, "But, Fullmetal, may I ask why you're all back here so soon?"_

_"We were allowed to come again tomorrow, Colonel, it was getting late and Mr. Tucker has his little daughter to worry about. We didn't want to impose," Alphonse explained calmly._

_"Nana got a minor case of sunstroke," Edward commented lightly from the side._

_"I did not!" Nana exclaimed, glaring at her brother in annoyance before turning to face Roy, "Can I borrow a pen, Mr. Mustang?"_

_Roy chuckled, handing the girl his pen with a wide grin spread on his lips as he watched her sketch down a transmutation circle on her palm._

_He knew what would come next._

_"W-wait, Nana, Whaddya think you're doing with tha__—__GAH!" Edward yelled, squirming around in the couch when Nana immediately jumped him, desperately trying to get his sister off him before she succeeded in her transmutation._

_"S-stand _still_, Elric!" Nana growled, finally managing to clap her hands while having Edward down on the ground, before she slammed her hands onto his back, grinning wickedly as the alchemic light had the entire office bathed in blue colors._

_"MPHRGHPH!" Edward roared, his voice muffled by the cloth now covering the entire lower half of his face._

-l-

-l-

Edward winced and unconsciously rubbed his chin, completely missing the sly chuckle from Alphonse, wincing when the sensitive skin shot back small bursts of annoying pain.

"It still hurts?"

Edward glared up at his brother, scowling for a moment.

"I'll take that as a yes," Alphonse chuckled, mentally smiling as he thought back on the previous evening.

It had taken the better part of three hours spent by Alphonse begging Nana to help transmute the fabric off Edward's face—apparently, the cloth had been glued together with his skin—but not until he had promised that Edward would treat all three of them as well as Nina and Mr. Tucker for a day at the amusement park.

Edward was less than pleased by the time he had the cloth removed from his lower face and his mood had only gone even further south when he had found Roy's entire team—himself included—laughing their asses off.

"You should let this be a lesson, Ed," Alphonse mused, immediately gaining Edward's attention.

"How so, Oh Wise Alphonse Elric?" Edward groaned.

"Well, now you know how to _not_ treat women. You should write that down on the list."

Edward nodded absentmindedly, pulling out a small, black notebook from an inner pocket in his jacket, "Got a pen, Al?"

Alphonse handed his brother a pencil, watching in amusement as Edward scribbled down a few notes under the 'Mental'-category.

"Great, now we only need thirty two more examples and then we'll have someone type it down," Edward grinned, putting the small book down in his inner pocket.

"Have anyone in mind?"

"Nah, I guess we'll just send it to a publisher and see how it goes from there," Edward mused, reaching for the main door's handle.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Nina squealed in delight as she and Nana jumped into a huge puddle of water, splashing both themselves and Alexander in the dirty water.

Both girls started laughing

"This is the most fun I've had in forever!" Nina giggled, swirling around in her dirty raincoat as she stretched her arms far above her head.

"Yeah, me too, Nina," Nana grinned, looking down at the much younger girl in glee, "Hey Nina, what do you wanna do when you get older?"

Nina stopped swirling around, pressing a finger against her lips as she thought over the question.

"What I wanna do?"

"Yeah! I mean, when I was a little younger I had this crazy idea that I wanted to be an automail-mechanic because we have a friend of the family who was really, really good at it!" Nana laughed, missing Nina's confused facial expression.

"So… what happened then, Nana?"

Nana stopped laughing, instead grimacing, "Well… I found out that mechanical things _doesn't _like me after I tried putting together an arm, just for practice of course… it exploded."

Nina giggled, clearly enjoying Nana's story, before she ran over to a large oak with Nana's hand clasped in her own.

"I think… I think I want to be just like Daddy!" Nina exclaimed happily, missing Nana's raised eyebrows.

"Really, you want to be a State Alchemist? There's actually no women who have applied as far as I know," Nana mused before turning a smile in Nina's direction, "Well, I guess there's a first for everything, right?"

"Yeah! I wanna be the Doggy Alchemist!" Nina giggled, "Then me and Alexander can go around and catch all the bad guys and Daddy can come with us too!"

Nana giggled, "That sounds like a really fun adventure, Nina. But the you have to study really hard because it's difficult to become a State Alchemist."

Nina frowned, "But… Big Brother is just as old as Melanie's older sister and _he's_ an Alchemist!"

Nana nodded, squeezing Nina's hand in her own, "Yeah, but that's because Ed received a special invitation. He's always been great at alchemy, Al and him actually made this for me when I turned five!" Nana said as she pulled out a small silvery necklace. Five small stones was imbedded in a round sphere, each one of them shining in red, orange, green, blue and purple.

Nina looked in wonder at the necklace, admiring the careful craftsmanship and the stones attached to it, "Wow, that's so pretty!"

"Well, I have to say that Nana's necklace was one of the better transmutations we did, isn't that right Al?"

Both Nana and Nina looked up, smiles erupting on their faces at the sight of Edward and Alphonse.

"Hi guys, how is the studying going?"

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, "We needed to stretch out, I'm getting a tad restless staying coped up in there all of the time."

"You just didn't want to be left out of the fun, Brother, admit it," Alphonse chuckled, avoiding the small stone thrown straight at him by Edward almost immediately.

"I'm siding with Alphonse in this, Ed," Nana grinned, sticking out her tongue when Edward shot her a dirty glare.

"I'm denouncing you, Nana! As head of the family I'm gon—!"

"You're gonna buy everyone ice cream if you lose a race against Al!" Nana declared, grinning widely at her oldest brother, "Or… could it be that Edward Elric, the Funsized—sorry _Fullmetal_—Alchemist is too much of a chicken?"

Edward bristled at Nana's disguised insult, clenching his automail-hand, "So it _was_ on purpose! You sneaky little brat!"

Nana sent Edward a raspberry, "You love me, Edo, admit it—AIE!" she squealed before fleeing from her furious older brother.

"Get back here, Nana! I'm not done with you!" Edward roared, his face red from anger, as he chased his little sister around the huge garden, oblivious to the supporting jeers coming from Alphonse with Nina on his shoulders.

* * *

xXx

* * *

"Bye-bye, Nana! You have to come again tomorrow!" Nina yelled from the front door, waving one hand while clutching Alexander's collar in the other.

"Sure thing, Nina! I'll bring some sketchbooks and some crayons! Promise!" Nana grinned, waving her hand just as wildly as the younger girl, "And then we can draw how Edward would look like as a girl!"

Havoc grinned as he breathed in smoke from his cigarette, trying his best not to laugh at Edward when said blonde alchemist shot Nana a nearly homicidal look, before he dragged her towards the car waiting to take them back to their military-funded hotel.

Nina giggled, "You have to make magic flowers again tomorrow, Nana!"

"It's not magic, Nina, it's alchemy," Tucker said softly, patting his daughter's shoulder before smiling overbearingly at Havoc, "The boys have been very well behaved, Lt. Havoc, Ms. Nana as well."

"Thanks, Mr. Tucker, I'll be sure to mention that to the Colonel. Oh yeah," Havoc said, remembering the note Mustang had given him, "Regarding the Colonel, I was asked to tell you that Assessment Day is coming up."

"T-thank you, Lieutenant," Tucker said, pushing back his glasses, "I'll be ready."

As Tucker and Nina disappeared inside along with Alexander the Elrics and Havoc got into the car, quickly turning the inside of the vehicle into a realm ruled by complete and utter silence.

"So," Havoc mused out loud as he started the engine, "the Chief as a girl, huh?"

A strange sound came from Edward in that same moment, causing everyone to laugh merrily.

"I am going to _murder_ you in your sleep, Lt. Havoc!" Edward growled, clenching his hand tightly.

"Oh, Edward, _relax_! I only meant it as a joke," Nana giggled, hiding her wide smile behind her hand.

Edward huffed, instead opting to look out through the window, and stayed silent for the duration of the ride, not even speaking to anyone as the three siblings made their way up to their hotel room.

Just what had he done to deserve this?

* * *

xXx

* * *

Gray light met Nana when she woke up the next morning, groggily looking out through the drawn curtains.

"Rain…?" Nana muttered, rubbing a hand over her face as she sat up. Looking around the small hotel room she watched Edward shuffle around on the bed beside her own while Alphonse was nowhere to be seen.

"Al?"

She didn't get a response, only hearing the rain drizzle down outside and the soft snores coming from Edward's bed.

"Well, might as well get up... I'm _starving_," Nana muttered, rubbing her eyes to rid them of the last bits of sleep, as she jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Yawning widely, she bumped the bathroom door open with her hip, immediately heading for the sink to clear up her head.

She heard some muffled groans from the main room, probably Ed waking up because of the noises she was making. Rubbing her face with a wet towel, she winced as she remembered what had transpired the night before.

All three of them had been sitting and talking about anything that came to their mind—anything from Edward's project for Assessment Day this year to the last visit back home—until it had been a good way past midnight.

Looking at the shower stall for a few moments Nana sniffed underneath her armpits, grimacing when the scent of dried sweat made itself known. She ran back out of the bathroom and started digging through Edward's suitcase, searching—and finding—one of his shirts, before running back into the bathroom and locking the door.

No way was she taking any chances.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Nana shuddered, sneezing briefly, wrapping her jacket tighter around her shoulders in an attempt to keep as much warmth as possible.

"Damn, my stumps are aching," Edward grumbled, glaring out at the horrible downpour from the Tucker house's front porch.

"Stop whining, Ed, and would you quit saying stumps? It makes it sound like you're deformed," Nana growled, rubbing her eyes as she fought back a loud yawn.

"Jeez, someone's pissy in the morning," Edward grumbled, raising his hand to knock on the door.

"I am _not_! It's the weather's fault, now Nina and I can't run around outside!" Nana growled, rubbing her eyes, "The weather makes me sleepy, and when I get sleepy then I get cranky too."

Alphonse sighed, not even bothering to try to make his siblings act at least a little bit more civil.

"Hello! Mr. Tucker? It's me, Edward Elric!" Edward shouted, pushing against the door, only to step back in surprise when the door swung open.

"That's… strange," Alphonse said surprised, peeking inside the cold doorway. Not even the sound of a bark from Alexander could be heard inside.

"Hello? Nina, it's me, Nana!" Nana shouted, shuffling past Edward to enter the hall, "I'm gonna go look upstairs in her room, guys, why don't you check out the basement?" she asked, shooting her brothers a toothy grin before disappearing upstairs.

"Sure, if she's not upstairs come down to the lab," Edward shouted as Nana hurried upstairs, sighing in annoyance when he heard her hasty agreement, "We seriously need to stop keeping her up for longer than ten, Al. For our own sanity."

"For our own sanity, Brother," Alphonse agreed calmly.

Quietly they descended down into the basement, both brothers keeping an eye out for the Sewing Life Alchemist.

"Mr. Tucker, it's us! It's Edward and Alphonse!" Edward shouted, only receiving the quiet emptiness that filled the house.

"Damn it, why won't he answer," Edward grumbled, blowing a straying strand of hair out of his face in annoyance.

"Perhaps Mr. Tucker has been caught up in an experiment, Brother. You get like that sometimes too," Alphonse reasoned, placing his metal-clad hand on Edward's shoulder.

"Yeah, guess you're right," Edward sighed as they reached the door leading into Tucker's laboratory. Slowly Edward prodded at the door, feeling the slightest uncomfortable shivers start to rush up and down his spine when the door slowly opened.

The laboratory was dark, only the dim light from the corridor illuminating the nearest pieces of furniture, and in the middle of the room sat two shapes—a man and an animal.

"Hello boys," Tucker's voice said from inside the lab, "You've arrived just in time."

"Mr. Tucker, we've been calling your name for ages," Edward said, blinking rapidly to adjust his eyes to the sudden darkness.

"My apologies Edward, but I have finally done it! I've made a chimera that can understand human language!" Tucker breathed, stepping to the side to show his creation to the boys.

"Wow…"

"A chimera speaking the human language…"

Excitedly the two brothers made their way over to the cowering creature, Edward kneeling before it with amazement shining in his eyes.

"Listen, boys!" Tucker said as he kneeled down before the Chimera, "This here is Edward. He's a friend!"

"Ed…ward…" the Chimera repeated slowly, its speech shaky and stumbling, before turning its head to look at Edward.

"Ed…ward…"

Edward's grin widened, the reality of this situation finally sinking in.

"Ed…ward…"

Shou Tucker really was worthy of his title 'Sewing Life Alchemist'!

"Ed…ward… Big Brother Edward!"

…

…

…

Edward's jaw slackened.

…

…

…

"Mr. Tucker… when was it that your wife decided to leave you?" Edward asked softly, his eyes hidden by his bangs.

"Let's see now… about two years ago, if I'm correct," said Tucker.

"I see," Edward muttered, "and when was it that you got your State Alchemist License?"

"That was two years ago as well," Tucker replied softly.

"If I may ask you one more question, Mr. Tucker then… where is Nina and Alexander?"

Tucker's eyes darted to Edward's, a manic gleam illuminating them.

"Damn brat," Tucker sneered, "figuring it out so quickly!"

With an angry roar, Edward shot up from his place before the Chimera, slamming Tucker into the wall while holding the older man back with his arm.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried out, just about to reach out and grab his brother when the look in Edward's eyes made him stop.

"Oh yeah, I figured it out. You did it again. Two years ago it was your wife," Edward growled, ignoring how the man was struggling for breath. Slowly, his eyes grew dark with rage, "This time, you used your own daughter and her own dog to transmute a talking Chimera!"

Alphonse stiffened immediately, staring between his brother holding Tucker in an irongrasp and the Chimera that once had been Nina.

"You can only do so much with humans after all. It's much easier when you start with a human, isn't that right?" Edward continued, a crimson haze slowly starting to take a hold over his mind.

"I don't see what you're so upset about," Tucker drawled, "This is how we progress. Human experimentation is a necessary step. I would think a scientist would understand…"

"Shut up!" Edward shouted, "Do you really think you can get away with this? Messing around with someone's life like that?! Your own daughter!"

"Someone's life, you say?" Tucker sneered, a manic laughter emanating from the crazed man, "You'd know all about that, would you? Look at you, Fullmetal Alchemist! Look at your leg, your arm! Look at your brother! Those things are also the result of messing around with somebody's life, aren't they?"

"Shut up!" Edward screamed, his eyes flashing with fury as his fist connected with Tucker's face. The collision broke Tucker's glasses, sending them flying through the air, smashed to pieces.

"We're the same!" Tucker screamed, "We're the same!"

"We're not!" Edward denied, his fist colliding with Tucker's face again and again, madness slowly talking hold of his mind.

"Brother! Stop it!" Alphonse shouted, finally getting through the crimson haze that had enveloped Edward's mind.

Slowly, he turned his head, looking past his brother and staring straight into the eyes of Nana.

"Ed…ward?" she whispered, raising her hand to point at the Chimera behind the brothers and Tucker, "W-what's that?"

"Nan—"

"That's Nina, Ms. Nana," Tucker grinned, saliva and blood flowing from the corners of his mouth, "That's my little Nina and Alexander you're looking at! A talking Chime—!"

"SHUT UP!" Edward screamed, slamming his automail-fist into Tucker's face yet again, "Don't even _dare_ talk to my sister, you _freak_!" Edward continued, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Edward, stop it! You'll kill him!" Alphonse cried out, grabbing his brother's hand in a vicegrip, "If you do that you'll be just like him! Control yourself!"

"Alphonse, can't you see what he did to Nina?! What he did to his own daughter?!" Edward screamed, his golden eyes narrowed his rage.

"I can see that, Edward, but you're scaring me! You're scaring all of us!" Alphonse pleaded, slowly pulling back his brother, "Let him go."

"B-big… Brother Ed?"

Edward gasped, his head slowly turning to look over at the corner where the Chimera had been sitting in. He swallowed heavily at the sight of Nana sitting with her arms wrapped around the creature's neck, her head buried in the fur.

_'She's crying…' _Edward realized oddly calmly, slowly retracting his grasp on Tucker's collar.

"DAMN IT!" Edward then yelled, a pained scream following those two words straight away.

* * *

xXx

* * *

Edward sat at the foot of a clock, counting the droplets of rain that dripped from his bangs.

Nana looked up at her brother with puffy eyes, continuously sniffling to keep her nose from running, "E-Ed?"

"…What?"

"W-what's going to happen to Nin—the chimera's body?" she whispered, making Alphonse look down at his sister in surprise.

"I… I dunno," Edward whispered, biting his lower lip as his head dipped backwards, allowing the rain to wash over his face.

As they all sat there, oblivious to the world around them, they didn't see the jacket-clad man walk towards them. His eyes, obscured by glasses, hid away the malice and fury coursing through his body.

"You, young boy," a voice said, causing the silent Edward to look up, "Are you the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Edward looked up at the dark man with dull eyes, not even bothering to mutter a greeting, "So what if I am… is there something I can do for you?"

"Foolish boy who have strayed from the path of righteousness! I will redeem your damned soul!" the man declared loudly as he pulled back his hand.

Nana's head snapped up, her mouth open to start verbally whipping the man for speaking like that to her brother, only for her eyes to widen when she saw the man's face.

His lips were drawn back, showing his teeth, his hand curled as if to strike, he was oozing lethal intent.

_Trouble…_

_Edward's in trouble…_

_He's going to get killed…_

"EDWARD!"

"BROTHER!"

The clock exploded in a cloud of dust and debris.

* * *

**Please review!**


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